Skylight construction



June 13, 1933. J M. R|HARD$ l 9l3,957

SKYLIGHT CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 11, 1932 dttorizgy l atented June 13, 1933 i ourrsn STATES PATENT OFFICE Application filed January 11, 1932. Serial No. 585,87

The present invention relates to skylight no additional costs are involved in the method construction whereby a lighting structure of erecting the roof slab. may be used with a monolithically cast roof Other features of the present invention slab constructed bythe so-called Pan or consist in certain combinations and arrange- 5 Grid system of reinforced concrete, also ments ofparts hereinafterdescribed, and then known as one-way and two-way reinforcing pointed out broadly and in detail in the apsystems. I pended claims possessing advantages readily Heretofore the construction of skylights by apparent to those skilled in the art. the above systems has been such that it has The various features of the present inven been necessary to leave an opening in the roof tion will be readily understood from an incoextensive with the size of the lighting unit. spection of theaccompanying drawing illus- This opening causes a weakening of the roof trating the best form of the invention known of Pan or Grid construction because it to the inventor, in which, breaks the unity of the reinforcement by pre- Figure 1 isa View in plan of a skylight and 15 venting the proper placing of the reinforcing a portion of the adjacent roof; steel, and this weakening makes necessary Fig. Q'is an enlarged detail in sectional external supporting structures of various elevation of the skylight and roof, taken types to bolster the skylight otherwise unalong theline 2-2 of Fig. 1, and supported. The use of ordinary skylights Fig. 3 is a detail view in elevation of the has heretofore made necessary changing the skylight, roof, and roof supports, showing design of the roof slab, resulting in an unthe projection'of theskylight above the upper sightly ceiling because of the external supsurface of the roof. ports for areas lighted by skylights, causing The illustrated embodiment of my inveninterference with pipes, conduits, and other tion exemplifies a roof'and skylight construcappliances located near the roof, and also tion in which a skylight is incorporated with marring the appearance of the molded sofiit a nionolithically cast roof slab which extends of th roof lab. 7 over the entire span of the bay to be covered.

The principal object of the present inven- The illustrated embodimentof my invention is to produce a skylight construction in tion isprovided with one or more panes of as which the reinforcing system of the roof slab plain or Wired glass 4, either square or recis not interfered with despite the existence tangular in shape. These panes may vary in of lighting openings. 7 number, depending upon the amount of'over- A further object of the present invention head light necessary or upon'the space avai1- it to produce a skylight construction elimiable for such light. The skylight construc- 3-- nating the weakening found in constructions tion shown in Fig. 1 shows a unit of thirtymade heretofore due to the. absence of con five panes. Each pane 4 is set in a frame 5 crete in the roof area for the skylight. which completely surrounds the frame. The A further object of the present invention frame 5 is best'constructed 'of some non-rust.- is to produce a skylight construction in which ing metal. The panes 4 are secured to the 40 no external supporting members are needed frames 5 by some elastic and waterproof mato support the skylight. 'terial 6, so that when the glass expands and A further object of thepresent invencontracts breakage and leakage are prevented, tion is to produce a skylight construction respectively. p which will not interfere with the continuity The panes and the frames so secured to 5 of the contour of the soflit of the roof, or with them are set in a support 7 made of reinpipes, conduits, etc, which maybe located forced concrete, the whole forming a light near the soffit. transmitting unit, constructed in a manner A further object of the present invention hereinafter described. The concrete support is to provide a skylight construction with a 7 is reinforced'in the usual manner by metal Pan or Grid reinforcing system inwhich bars'or rods 8 and9 which in the best con- 1 00 struction extend both transversely and longitudinally within the pane-supporting concrete.

The parts thus far described form, as a unit, the skylight part of a roof. This skylight superstructure rests upon a portion 11 of the roof prepared for it. The roof 10 is a monolithically cast slab of reinforced concrete. When the roof 10 is cast, the manner of the casting being described hereinafter, the portion 11 of the roof supporting the skylight is cast higher than the upper surface of the roof proper. The whole roof casting has the usual reinforcing bars or rods 13 which run both longitudinally and transversely. The transverse rods only are shown in Fig. 2. The portion 11 of the roof casting extending above the upper surface of the roof proper is also reinforced in the usual Way by rods or bars 12 which run both transversely and longitudinally through the casting. Only the transverse rods are show in Fig. 2. i

The function of the raised portion 11 of the roof casting is to furnish skylight support which an unraised portion can not furnish. In ordinary skylights the absence of concrete in the entire skylight opening takes away the necessary support against the compression of the skylight. The embodiment of my invention, however, does not eliminate concrete under the skylight, but utilizes it there, reinforced by rods or bars, so that provision is made for the necessary concrete to support the skylight, at the same time providing skylight openings to light areas below.

It will be seen that such a construction eliminates the need for external supporting structures such as are now seen in buildings provided with skylights. The entire support does not extend below the soffit of the roof. The roof is cast with the kind of soffit desired, and nothing disturbs its continuity, or interferes with overhead pipes, conduits, shafting or other appliances.

With such a construction a means must be provided so that no. harm will come to the skylight, especially when covering a large area, caused by the expansion and contraction prevalent in reinforced concrete. In large areas this expansion and contraction, if unguarded against, will cause cracks, resulting in the leakage of water. Because such cracks would appear in the skylight, I have made my skylight construction such that the reinforced skylight unit rests upon the monolithically cast roof slab, completely unbonded with it. In this way the roof slab can contract and expand freely, yet not harm the skylight unit.

Inspection of Fig. 3- shows that the skylight, extending only above the roof, presents a curb construction which allows drainage of snow and rain. To insure that no water may leak through between the periphery of the skylight and'that part of the roof slab which immediately supports it, a curb flashing 1a is provided to form a waterproof contact. This curb flashing 14 may be made of roofers sheet copper or of any other material suitable for flashing. One end of the flashing extends into the lower face of the peripheral portion of the reinforced concrete of the skylight, as shown at 15. The flashing 14 then extends between the lower face of the peripheral portion of the skylight concrete and the upper peripheral face of the supporting portion of the roof slab, passing down the external wall of the supporting portion of the roof slab. The flashing extends over the roof slab to form a waterproof sheath, and is secured by a tack 16, or any suitable fastening means, to a strip of wood 17 or other material suitable to receive it, set in the concrete of the roof slab when the slab is cast.

It will be seen that with such a construction the entire roof including the skylight is 1 made waterproof, and at the same time there is no bond between the skylight and the roof slab. The skylight is insulated from it.

in constructing the roof slab with the skylight openings 18 builders templates or forms usual for such construction are placed as desired with their bottom faces even, flat, and at the same grade. The supporting means for the templates has the surface that the soifit of the roof is to have. Where the skylight openings are to be located the templates are higher. Reinforcing is then placed in the usual way, and the concrete is poured. Where the skylight templates occur, the concrete is poured to a higher level, butnot over the top of the templates. The other templates are of course covered by the concrete.

The concrete about the templates which form the skylight openings is poured to the height necessary to provide concrete for supporting the skylight to compensate for that which has been eliminated by the skylight openings.

In constructing the skylights over the openings in the roof slab, the panes 4' are set in the non-rusting frames 5, and are secured thereto by some waterproof, elastic substance 6.. The frames and panes, placed as desired, are then cemented together with reinforced concrete '17, forming a skylight unit such as is shown in Fig. 1. The frames 5 have a surface construction next to the concrete 7 such that they are supported by the concrete, and form a waterproof contact with l r it. One example of such construction is shown in frame 5 in Fig. 2.

The upper surface of the roof slab may be covered with a tar and gravel covering 520,

or with any other substance used in roof surface construction.

The difference in depth between the templates forming the unapertured portion 19 and the apertured portion 18 of the roof slab 10 is shown as it is in Fig. 2 for purposes of description only. It is apparent that how far the skylight extends above the roof slab proper depends upon the size or nature of the roof, and may vary with difierent needs without in any way departing from the principle of the invention.

Nothing herein explained is to be interpreted as limiting the various features of the present invention in the scope of its application to use in connection with the particular skylight or the particular mode of construction or both selected for the purpose of illustration and explanation. While the particulars of construction herein set forth are well suited to one form ofthe invention and to the use to which it is put, it is not limited to this use, nor to these details of construction, nor to the conjoint use of all its features, nor is it to be understood that these particulars are essential, since they may be modified within the skill of the artisan without departing from the true scope of the actual invention, characterizing features of which are set forth in the following claims by the intentional use of generic terms and expressions inclusive of various modifications.

What is claimed as new, is:

1. In a .skylight construction, the combination with a plurality of light transmitting panes and a reinforced concrete construction supporting the panes, of a mono-lithically cast apertured roof slab supporting the pane-supporting construction the upper sur face of the apertured portion of said slab contacting substantially the entire under face of the pane supporting construction.

2. In a skylight construction, the combination with a plurality of light transmitting panes, metal frames therefor, and a water-.

proof and elastic binder for panes and frames, all set in reinforced concrete to constitute a unitary construction, of a monolithically cast apertured roof slab supporting said unitary construction the upper surface of the apertured portion of said slab contacting substantially the entire under face of the concrete of said unitary construction. 7

3. In a skylight construction, the combination with a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, of a monolithically cast apertured roof slab supporting the light transmitting unit and unbonded with it the upper surface of the apertured portion of said slab contacting substantially the entire lowermost surface of said light transmitting unit.

4. In askylight c0nstruction,.the combi-' upper surface of the apertured portion of said .slab contacting substantially the entire under face of the concrete of said unitary construction. Y 7

I 5.'In a skylight construction, the combination with a light-transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, of a monolithically cast roof slab having an unapertured portion, and an apertured portion for supporting the light transmitting unit, the upper surface of said apertured portion contacting substantially the entire lowermost surface of said light transmitting unit, and the lowermost surface of said apertured portion be ing on the same grade as the lowermost surface ofsaid unapertured portion.

6. Ina skylight construction, the combination with a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, of a monolithically cast roof slab having an unapertured portion, and an apertured portion for supporting the light transmitting unit, the upper surface of said apertured portion contacting substantially the entire lowermost face of said light transmitting unit, and the continuity of the lowermost portions of the entire slab being unbroken. V

7 A skylight construction having, in combination, a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, and a monolithically cast roof slab comprising an unapertured portion and an apertured portion extending above the upper surface of the unapertured portion for supporting the light transmitting unit the upper surfaceof said apertured portion contacting substantially the entire lowermost surface of said light transmitting unit.

8. A skylight construction having, in combination, a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, and a monolithically cast roof slab for supporting the lighttransmitting unit, said slab comprising an unaperturedportion and an apertured portion the upper surface of which extends above the upper surface of the unapertured portion and contacts substantially the entire lowermost surface of the light transmitting unit, the lowermost surface of said apertured portion being uniform with the lowermost surface of said unapertured portion.

9. In. a skylight construction, the combinationwith a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes and a monolithically cast roof slab of reinforced concrete for supporting the light transmitting unit, said slab comprising an unapertured portion and a portion having a plurality of apertures, of"

means integral with said apertured portion andabove the level of the upper surface of said unapertured portion for providing sufficient concrete to compensate for that lost because of the apertures. 7

10. A skylight construction having, in combination, a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, a monolithically cast apertured roof slab supporting said unit and unbonded thereto the upper surface of the apertured portion of said slab contacting substantially the entire lowermost surface of said light transmitting unit, and a flashing, a portion of which extends between said slab and unit, for waterproofing the abutment of said slab and unit.

11. A skylight construction having, in combination, a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, a monolithically cast apertured roof slab supporting said unit and unbonded thereto, the upper surface of the apertured portion of said slab contacting substantially the entire lowermost surface of said light transmitting unit, and a curb flashing extending around the periphery of that portion of said slab abutting said unit for waterproofing abutment of said slab and unit.

12. A skylight construction having, in combination, a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, a monolithically cast apertured roof slab supporting said unit and unbonded thereto the upper surface of the apertured portion of said slab contacting substantially the entire lowermost surface of said light transmitting unit, and a curb flashing, secured to said slab, extending around the periphery of that portion of said slab abutting said unit for waterproofing the abutment of said slab and unit.

13. A skylight having, in combination, a monolithically cast apertured roof slab, a waterproof curb flashing surrounding the pe riphery of said slab, and a light transmitting unit including a plurality of panes, said unit being supported by said slab and unbonded with it andthc upper surface of the apertured portion of said slab contacting substantially the entire lowermost surface of said light transmitting unit.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOSHUA M. RICHARDS. 

